May the Thoughts be with Margot…

If you are joining the 60 Postcards journey for the first time……..

See how it all started here.

Read about the book to be published on February 27th 2013 here.

Good evening all,

I hope you had a great weekend. Mine was jam-packed and fun-filled with a particularly fantastic Saturday morning, all thanks to my new friend The Free Help Guy.

His latest campaign was a #HelpMob which is a ‘public gathering of complete strangers who descend upon one or more people who need some help, without them knowing.’ Paris Crew member, Clare and I were more than keen to get involved.

We joined a group of fifty-strong volunteers outside Notting Hill tube and the mob hit Portobello Road armed with leaflets, banners – ready to spread the word about Margot Martini.

This little angel sadly has Leukaemia and her parents are desperately trying to find a donor match for her. On Saturday we were directing people to a donor drive that was taking place in the Tabernacle pub in Notts Hill.

I was amazed to find that all it takes is just a couple of minutes to do a cheek swab. Just two minutes out of your day has the potential to save someone’s life. I have absolutely everything crossed for a match being found for Margot and hope that through ‘Team Margot’ raising awareness for the cause, so many others can be encouraged to get on that donor register (including you!).

To find out more about the day and how you can help, please visit The Free Help Guy’s latest blog post The #HelpMob and #TeamMargot. 

It was while wandering the streets of Portobello Road after the #HelpMob that I came across a stall of cards and books of inspirational quotes called ‘May the Thoughts be with You’. On speaking to Charlotte, who was running the stall, I discovered yet another incredible story to add to Project Inspire….

‘Hi my name is Charlotte Reed and I’m the author and illustrator of a self-published gift book called May The Thoughts Be With You. The book is a collection of my own positive thoughts and ideas for leading a happier, more inspired life and I’ve illustrated it with friendly and fun cartoon drawings.

The book came about because I suffered from depression back in 2008. During the height of the condition I knew I had to do something to help myself. That’s when I had the idea to start writing my own positive thoughts to try to improve my life, my outlook and mood. I made the commitment to write one positive thought each day. It was crucial to give my mind something to focus on and try get my depressing thinking to stop. As soon as I’d started writing the thoughts, I wondered if I should post them as my daily Facebook status. I wanted to know if what I was writing to help myself might also help my friends too. I tried it for a little while and the response was amazing. Soon hundreds of friends started to follow my daily posts which I’d put up at about 8.30am every Monday to Friday, and if I was ever late I’d get emails from them demanding to know where their daily thought was!!

I posted my thoughts each weekday for 4 years. During that time I had countless requests from friends to turn my thoughts into a book. I would smile and nod but I knew deep down I didn’t have the confidence to do it. And then one day a friend gave me a special present. She had gone through my entire Facebook history, copied and pasted all my thoughts from over the 4 years and turned them into a spiral bound document. I was stunned, it must have taken her ages to do it. It was then that I realised I must make something of these thoughts. At the time, I was on sick leave from work as I’d developed a chronic case of RSI from my office based role. It all seemed perfect timing. I needed to find a career that I could do without using a computer- and why not take my friends advice; be brave and turn my thoughts into a book!? I realised I could write it by hand to avoid computer use and that was it, I was sold!!

I published my book at the beginning of 2013 and it has sold over 2,000 copies since then. I’m amazed that such a wonderful thing could have come from such a painful time in my life. And now it seems my thoughts are helping lots of other people too as it cheers them up and encourages them to think positively. I’m so happy. The depression has gone and now I’m living a life that is true to me. And it’s all thanks to my book…..’

Charlotte’s story really hit home for me, as I feel that I can relate to the personal journey of aiming to transfer negative feelings into something positive and to remind others that we are not alone. I wish her all the best for the future and look forward to popping down to her stall again sometime soon!

The list of inspirational people, projects and causes that I am finding is ever-growing. I can only wonder what I will discover next week……

Speak to you later in the week,

Rach xx

PS Some of you may notice that my website (on laptop/PC view) has changed! It is very much a work in progress right now!

I will let you know when it is complete through Facebook and Twitter then please feel free to get in touch if you have any improvements/suggestions! Thanks :).